In1980, Republicans made Ronald Reagan the oldest person nominated for president by a major party. At 69, Reagan looked and acted much younger because he was physically fit and displayed a sharp wit. The former Hollywood actor, Screen Actors Guild president, and California Governor presented an amiable, aggressive style that quickly became popular with Americans.
During three televised presidential debates, Reagan constantly attacked Carter's performance record. Citing rising inflation and unemployment rates and poor foreign relations, Reagan bluntly asked the American people, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" The question proved to have more effect on the election than specific discussions about policies he would pursue. When the votes were counted, Reagan won the 1980 presidential race in a landslide, collecting 489 electoral votes to Carter's 49.
Reagan focused much of his attention on reducing the size of the federal government. While decentralizing and deregulating federal agencies, Reagan declared, "Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem." In an effort to turn around the economy, the president demanded deep reductions in several areas, including welfare, food stamps, and student loans. The functions normally provided by the federal government to maintain these programs were turned over to state authorities. Reagan also asked Congress to cut income taxes. Critics argued that such a move would increase the deficit, but the president believed lower taxes would give people more money to spend. The increase in spending would in turn generate more goods and jobs and grow the economy. This theory became known as Reaganomics.
While many advisors recommended dramatic cuts in the defense budget, Reagan refused, and instead revived Truman's containment policy. The president renewed the Cold War by warning against the threat to spread communism posed by the USSR, which he named the "evil empire." He reasoned that military expansion was necessary to protect the interests of the free world.
Reagan wanted to create an impressive nuclear force so powerful that the Soviets would be forced to back down from any confrontation. In 1983, he announced his intention to build a high-tech missile defense system called the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), more commonly referred to as "Star Wars." One version of the plan included stations in space that would use lasers to destroy intercontinental missiles as they were launched. While many politicians against the SDI strategy claimed it would be too costly to maintain, skeptics from the science and technology industry questioned whether it would work at all.
Reagan continued his attack on communism by accusing Nicaraguan authorities of aiding communist countries. When anti-American revolutionaries, called Sandinistas, took control of Nicaragua in 1979, Jimmy Carter tried to establish diplomatic relations with them. President Reagan, however, charged that the Sandinistas secured an agreement with Cuba and the Soviet Union to allow Nicaragua to become a portal for communist penetration into Central America.
To fight communists in Nicaragua and El Salvador, Reagan provided aid to the "contra" rebels who opposed the anti-American militants. When Congress refused to continue supplying the Contras with money and weapons, Reagan looked for other sources.
Meanwhile, the war between Iran and Iraq intensified. Many in the United States held Iran responsible for several Americans being held hostage in Lebanon.
In 1986, Reagan secretly approved a deal to sell weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of the hostages. Authorities instructed Marine Colonel Oliver North to take the money from the Iran transaction and purchase weapons for the Contras. The decision directly violated the ban Congress enacted on such aid. When news of the deal became public, national security advisor Admiral John Poindexter resigned, Colonel North was fired from his position with the Security Council, and President Reagan denied knowing anything about the plan.
Reagan also flexed his military muscle in Grenada, where a coup resulted in the death of the prime minister. Reagan ordered the military to storm the tiny island and remove the Marxists who had taken control. The plan was successful and demonstrated to the world America's might and Reagan's determination to fight communism.
Many Democrats referred to Reagan as the "Teflon President" because scandals or questionable decisions never seemed to damage his popularity with the American public. Helped by a strong and growing economy, Reagan overwhelmingly won a second term in 1984 by defeating Walter Mondale 525 electoral votes to just 13. One year later, Mikhail Gorbachev became the new chairman of the Soviet Communist Party. The two leaders would play large roles in changing world policies.
Gorbachev was more personable than prior Soviet leaders and supported radical reforms in the Soviet Union. He presented two revolutionary policies: Glasnost (openness) which aimed to end the secretive, suppressive Soviet society by allowing free speech and political liberty; and Perestroika (restructuring), which was designed to accept free-market practices to revitalize the sluggish Soviet economy. He also announced that the Soviet Union would not force communist governments in Eastern Europe to remain in power. Repressive regimes in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, and East Germany collapsed, and in 1989, the Berlin Wall was torn down. The notorious Iron Curtain that had divided Eastern Europe for decades was no more.
For Gorbachev's plan to work he had to reduce the size and funding for the nation's military and massive weapons stash, and concentrate on stabilizing the economy. The dismantling of the Soviet military effectively brought an end to the Cold War. In 1987, Reagan and Gorbachev signed a treaty to ban all intermediate-range nuclear missiles from Europe. The agreement was a victory for Reagan who maintained his rigid stand against communism, and for Gorbachev who proved to the world that he was serious about reform.
Reagan oversaw a great deal of change during his presidential tenure. When he entered the White House in 1981, he rigidly condemned the "evil empire" and all that it stood for. But by the completion of his second term, the anxiety surrounding the Cold War had been eliminated and the president routinely praised Soviet leadership for reform. In his farewell address, Reagan said, "We are the change." The vague statement referred to the experience and accomplishment he and the American people shared during the previous eight years.